Toy teletyper



March '3, 1959 c. PEARSON, JR., ETAL 2,

TOY TELETYPER v Filed Marbh s, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L f J INVENTORS M My%/ March 1959 c. PEARSON, JR., ET AL 2,875,881

TOY TELETYPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1957 g ABC INVENTORS.

United States Patent TOY TELETYPER Charles Pearson, Jr., Elmhurst, and Gunars Licitis, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Marvin I. Glass, Chicago, Ill.

Application March 6, 1957, Serial No. 644,278

4 Claims. (31. 197-49 This invention relates to a toy teletyper which is an.

instrument or device whereby a message may be printed letter by letter on a paper tape strip which is automatically advanced step by step to receive the letters in properly spaced relation to each other.

A single teletyper may be used with considerable enjoyment by a child, but in most cases a pair of the instruments will be located respectively in separate rooms and interconnected by suitable electric wiring so that a child in one room may send messages to a playmate in another room and also receive messages from such playmate.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a simple but workable toy of the character indicated; to provide such a toy which is easy to operate and which clearly indicates to the child the exact letter or other character which will be printed when the toy is actuated; to provide such a toy of such character that two or more like units thereof maybe interconnected by wiring for simultaneous operation-at points remote from each other andincident to the operation of any one of the interconnected units; and, in general, it is the object of the invention to provide a simple, eflicient and durable toy of the character indicated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings (2 sheets) in which there is illustrated a toy of the character described embodying a selected construction.

In the drawings v Figure 1 is an illustration typifying one manner in which a pair of the toys maybe used by children in separate rooms for the sending of messages from each to the other;

Figure 2 is a perspective illustration of one unit of the toy according to the present invention;

Figure 3 is a wiring diagram which illustrates how a pair of the units are electrically interconnected;

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the electro-mechanical mechanism which is contained in the housing of the toy; Figure 5 is a plan view of said electro-mechanical unit; and

:Figure 6 is a perspective illustration of one element of the mechanical construction.

The toy teletyper according to the present invention embodies an outer housing or casing 1 (Fig. 2) which may be formed of sheet metal or die cast of metal, or

,molded of any suitable plastic material. As shown in Fig. 2, the housing involves a suitable tapered formation so that it is well adapted to production by molding of metal or plastic material, the bottom of the casing being open. a

The housing 1 is provided with a fixed shaft 2a on which a reel 2 of paper tape 3 may be mounted for rotation preferably subject to a light braking effect to prevent undesirable unwinding or overrunning of the reel when the tape strip 3 is drawn unit by unit from the reel. A suitable friction spring 4 may be mounted on the front wall portion 5 of the housing for engagement with one of the flanges of the reel 2 to hold the latter against excessively free unwinding. The reel may be held on the shaft by suitable cap nut 6 threaded on the supporting shaft and against which cap nut the friction spring 4 presses the reel.

The tape strip 3 is guided into a horizontal passageway 7 in the housing, the tap strip being thence guided to printing position under a printing wheel housed in a central portion 8 of the housing. The tape strip 3 emerges from said central portion 8 and passes through a windowed guide member 9 in which any message printed on the tape is visible. The tape emerges from the guide member 9 as indicated at 10 and lengths of the tape may be torn off from time to time as desired or required.

Electro-mechanical mechanism enclosed within the housing 1 comprises a U-shaped sheet metal frame structue 11 (Figs. 4 and 5) which has a bottom wall 12 and upstanding side walls 13 and 14. A printing wheel 15 is secured to one end of a shaft 16 which is rotatably mounted in suitable openings provided in the side walls 13 and 14 of the frame, said shaft projecting through both of said side walls and having fixedly mounted on its other end an index wheel 17.

The printing wheel 15 is provided on its peripheral surface with a set 15a of the desired printing letters, figures, punctuation marks and other characters as indicated and the index wheel 17 has a marginal portion of its face provided with a set 18 of corresponding characters. In the illustrated construction, printing is eifected against the type characters 15a at the bottom of the wheel 15 but the characters indicated on the index wheel 17 are viewed at the top of the latter as shown in Fig. 2 sothat corresponding characters on the printing wheel and on the index wheel are in diametrically opposed re lationship. On the housing 1 (Fig. 2) a pointer or other suitable index mark 19 is provided for indicating which type character is in printing position.

A suitable toothed wheel 20 is secured to the inner side of the printing wheel 15 or to the shaft 16 so that said toothed wheel and printing wheel are secured in fixed relationship to each other. An escapement lever 21 is pivotally mounted as indicated at 22 on a cross shaft 23 which is suitably mounted in the frame sides 13 and 14. A spring 24 stretched between an arm portion 25 of the escapement lever and a portion of the wall 13 serves to bias the escapement lever in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4 so that a tooth 26 of the escapement lever normally engages in one of the notches of the toothed wheel 20 to hold the latter and the printing wheel and index wheel against rotation with the selected printing character 15a in printing position. The teeth on the wheel 20 are so spaced that they register with printing characters on the printing wheel 15.

The escapement lever 21 is adapted to be rocked against the tension of the spring 24 by means of an electromagnet 27 which, when energized, acts against a flange 0r lip portion 28 of the escapement lever 21 to rock the latter in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4. When the escapement lever is rocked in the clockwise direction, the other tooth 29 of said lever is brought into engagement with one of the teeth of the toothed wheel 20 and acts to advance the same 'a distance corresponding to the spacing of the teeth, the holding pawl or tooth 26 being at that time disengaged from the toothed wheel. As soon as the feed movement of the tooth wheel is com pleted, the magnet 27 is de-energized, thereby permitting the escapement lever 21 to be restored by the spring 24 to the holding position in which the lever is illustrated in Fig. 4. The magnet 27 may be mounted on the bottom Patented Mar. 3, 1959 wall 12 of the frame structure and an electric circuit to said magnet is controllable by a suitable switch (not shown) associated with a switch button (Fig. 2). The switch button 30 may be part of a unitary switch structure which may in turn be mounted on either the housing 1 oron the frame ll preferably on the latter. By repeatedly pressing the switch button 30 the magnet 27 may be energized as many times as necessary to rotate the printing wheel 15 to position the desired letter or character in printing position directly below its supportingshaft 16.

The tape 3 is pressed upwardly into printing engagementwiththe selected'type character by means of a printingflpad element 31 which is formed as a part of an arm or lever 32. This arm or lever 32 is connected by a web 33'to'a fragmentary arm portion. 34 which parallels the upper portion of the arm 32. The upper ends of the arms 32 and 34 are pivotally mounted on a shaft 35 which is supported in the frame sides 13 and 14. The lever 32 is normally biased to the left as shown in Fig. 4 by means of a spring 36 which is stretched between an ear extension of the lever 32 and the adjacent end of the frame side 13. Rocking movement of the lever toward the left is stopped by engagement of its lower end portion 37 with one end of a tape guide channel 38 as indicated at 39.

Said tape guide channel 38 is formed by securing a suitably bent metal member to the bottom 12 of the frame structure with the channel forming portion of the member 38 extended beyond the outside of the side wall 13 asillustrated in Fig. 5. To facilitate assembly of the lever member comprising the parts 32, 33 and 34 with the frame structure, the wall 13 thereof is provided with an opening 40 through which the arm portion 34 and web portion 33 may be passed. so that said arm portion 34 may be positioned between the frame sides 13 and 14 as shown in Fig. 5.

The lower end portion 37 of said arm 32 is also formed to provide a tape guiding channel as is clearly shown in Fig. 6. A tape-gripping member or dog 41 provided with cars 42 is pivoted on said lever arm 32 by means of a pivot pin 43 which projects fixedly from the arm 32 and through suitable holes in said ears 42. The lower end'of the pivoted dog 41 is arranged to press the tape strip against'the bottom of the guide channel 37, the member 41 being biased in the proper direction for this purpose by a spring 44 which is stretched between a portion'of thedog 41 and a portion of the arm 32 as best shown in Fig. 6. It Willbe seen that the lower end of the pivoted member 41' will pinch the tape 3 against the bottom-of the guide channel 37 so that upon rocking movement'of the lever 32 in clockwise direction, the tape will be advanced a distance determined by the throw of the lower end of the lever. The lower end portion of said tape feed dog 41 is arranged at such an angle to the bottom of-the guide channel 37, that upon counterclockwise swinging of the arm 32 saiddog'41 will slide freely overthe tape so as to avoid rearward movement of the strip. To further prevent such rearward movement as an incident to the printing direction movement of the lever 32,'another pivotally mounted tape-gripping dog 45,=similar to the dog 41, is pivotally mounted on the frame side 13 for cooperation with the bottom of the guide channel 38. A spring 46 stretched between a' portion of the dog and a portion of the frame side 13 normally rocks the lower end of the dog toward the bottom of the guide channel 38 to cause the dog and the bottom of said guide channel '38 to grip and hold the tape against rearward movement (to the right in Figs. 4 and 5) while at the same time permitting relatively free forward movement of'the tape. Thed'ogs 41 and 45' together with their respective cooperating, tape guides constitute oneway clutches or grips for feeding and holding the tape.

Rocking movement of the lever 32 is initiated by energizing an electro-magnet 47 which is mounted on an ear 48 struck out of the side 13 of the frame. This magnet 47, when energized, acts onthe web 33 of the arm 32 and rocks the arm counterclockwise (to the right in Fig. 4) against the tension of the spring 36. Such rocking movement of the arm 32 efiects movement of the printing pad 31 upwardly opposite the printing character 1511 which is then in printing position. The tape strip 3 is thereby pressed against the selected printing character and receives an impression therefrom. The type characters may be inked by means of an inking roller or pad 49 which is suitably mounted on the frame side 13 as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. When the magnet 47 is deenergized the spring 36 returns the lever 32 to its starting position in which it is illustrated in Fig. 4 and the tape-gripping dog 41 and the cooperating bottom wall of the tape guide 37, feeds the tape 3 forwardly one step which is long enough to bring a clear portion of the tape 3 into printing position.

The electro-mechanical unit of structure represented in Figs. 4 and 5 may be mounted in the housing 1 and secured therein in any suitable manner. For example, the supporting frame 11 may be mounted by means of suitable leg brackets 50 and 51' on a base plate 52 which is adapted to fit into the open bottomof the housing 1 and secured therein by means of screws 53 which screw into suitably tapped bosses provided on the inside of the housing as an integral part thereof. These screws 53 may also serve to secure rubber buttons or other feet'54 to said bottom plate 52. The leg bracket 50 may be made as an integral part of a member which. includes said tape guide 38.

The magnet 47 may be controlled by an electric switch button 55 which may constitute a part of a suitable switch mounted on the frame 11 in such manner that the switch button 55 is accessible as shown in Fig. 2 on the outside of the housing 1.

A typical wiring diagram for interconnecting a .pair o'fthe described toy teletypers is shown in Fig. 3. Power may be supplied from a battery or preferably from a. step-down transformer 56 which is fed from a conventional house current line to which the transformer is connected by the usual plug 57. The low voltage output side of the transformer is connected to the wiring of the teletypers. When the switch 30 of either of the two units represented at 58 and 59 is closed, circuits will be completed to the magnets 27 in both of the units so that in both units the type wheel will be simultaneously advanced each time that either switch 30 is closed. Similarly, when the switch 55 of either of the units is closed, a circuit will be completed to each of the magnets 47 to thereby simultaneously print and feed the tape in both units. Assuming that both units are properly synchronized as to the position of the type wheel, it will be apparent'that a message prepared at one of the units will be duplicated in the other. More than two units may be interconnected if desired to operate simultaneously in the manner just described.

As represented in Fig. 1, two units located in separate rooms may be interconnected by wiring in the manner explained so that a child in either room may transmit a message to a playmate in the otherroom and also receive from such playmate an answer. If desired,'the

printed tape strips may be torn off in sections at the end of the reading Window 9 and pasted on simulated telegram bl-anks'as represented at 60 in Fig. 1.

Various-changes in the described structure may be made while retaining the principles of the invention.

We claim:

1. A toy teletyper comprising a housing, means for supporting a supply of tape,. a printing mechanism mounted in said housing and having a rotatable printing.

wheel providedwith circumferentiallyrspaced printing characters on its periphery, a toothed wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel and having teeth in fixed relationship to the printing characters on said wheel,

means acting on said toothed wheel to advance said printing wheel step by step and to lock the same in predetermined printing position, means associated with said printing wheel for visually indicating which printing character on said printing Wheel is in printing position, a printing pad for pressing the tape strip into printing engagement with a printing character on said printing wheel, means for gripping and advancing said tape step by step in one direction, means for holding said tape against oppositely directed endwise movement, electrical means for actuating said toothed Wheel advancing means, and means for actuating said printing pad and tape advancing means.

2. A toy teletyper comprising a housing having means for supporting a supply of tape, a printing mechanism mounted in said housing and having a rotatable printing wheel provided with circumferentially spaced printing characters on its periphery, a toothed wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel and having teeth in fixed relationship to the printing characters on said Wheel, a pivotally mounted escapement lever acting on said toothed wheel and operative upon rocking movement to advance said printing wheel step by step and to lock the same in predermined printing position, means associated with said printing Wheel for visually indicating which printing character on said printing wheel is in printing position, a pivotally mounted lever having a printing pad for pressing the tape into printing engagement with a printing character on said printing wheel and also having tape feeding means, said lever being rockable on its pivot mounting and being operative to effect printing on said tape when the lever is rocked in one direction and to effect feeding of the tape endwise in a predetermined direction when said lever is rocked in the opposite direction, means for holding said tape against endwise movement incident to the rocking of said lever in printing direction, means for actuating said escapement lever, and means for actuating said rockable printing and tape-feeding lever.

3. A toy teletyper comprising a housing, means for supporting a reel of tape on the outside of said housing, said housing being provided with means forming a passageway through which a tape drawn from a reel on said supporting means is adapted to be fed into, through and out of said housing, a printing mechanism mounted in said housing and having a rotatable printing wheel provided with circumferentially spaced printing characters on its periphery, a toothed wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel and having teeth in fixed relationship to the printing characters on said wheel, a pivotally mounted escapement lever acting on said toothed wheel and operative upon rocking movement to advance said printing Wheel step by step and to lock the same in predetermined printing position, an index wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel, said housing having an opening for displaying a portion of said index wheel for visually indicating which printing character on said printing wheel is in printing position, a pivotally mounted lever having a printing pad for pressing the tape into printing engagement with a printing character on said printing wheel and also having tape feeding means, said lever being rockable on its pivot and being operative to effect printing on said tape when the lever is rocked in one direction and to effect feeding of the tape endwise in a predetermined direction when said lever is rocked in the opposite direction, means for holding said tape against endwise movement incident to the rocking of said lever in printing direction, electrical means for actuating said escapement lever, electrical means for actuating said rockable printing and tape-feeding lever, and switches for controlling the operation of said electrical means, said switches having operating buttons accessible on the outside of said housing for manually actuating said switches.

4. A toy teletyper comprising a housing, means for supporting a reel of tape on the outside of said housing, said housing being provided with means forming a passageway through which a tape drawn from a reel on said supporting means is adapted to be fed into, through and out of said housing, a printing mechanism mounted in said housing and having a rotatable printing wheel provided with circumferentially spaced printing characters on its periphery, a toothed wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel and having teeth in fixed relationship to the printing characters on said wheel, a pivotally mounted escapement lever acting on said toothed Wheel and operative upon rocking movement to advance said printing wheel step by step and to lock the same in predetermined printing position, an index wheel fixedly connected to said printing wheel, said housing having an opening for displaying a portion of said index wheel for visually indicating which printing character on said printing wheel is in printing position, a pivotally mounted lever having a printing pad for pressing the tape into printing engagement with a printing character on said printing wheel and also having tape feeding means, said lever being rockable on its pivot and being operative to effect printing on said tape when the lever is rocked in one direction and to effect feeding of the tape endwise in a predetermined direction when said lever is rocked in the opposite direction, means for holding said tape against endwise movement incident to the rocking of said lever in printing direction, electrical means for actuating said escapement lever, electrical means for actuating said rockable printing and tape-feeding lever, switches for controlling the operation of said electrical means, said switches having operating buttons accessible on the outside of said housing for manually actuating said switches, and a windowed tape guide on the outside of said housing for guiding and displaying the printed tape as it emerges from said housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 126,530 Edison May 7, 1872 126,532 Edison May 7, 1872 434,881 Odell Aug. 19, 1890 470,871 Rymtowlt-Prince Mar. 15, 1892 2,064,274 Shann Dec. 15, 1936 2,741,662 Skilling Apr. 10, 1956 

